


Bendy the Dancing Demon in Animating Antics!

by Gears112



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: Bendy is a bit of a yandere, Crossover, Gen, Joey however want Henry's for other reasons, Joey's an ass, Mugman is a sweetheart no one else can tell me otherwise, Multi, Not dead for long honestly, Techincal Character Death, but not in a romantic way, he just wants his 'real' dad, may get into some King/Devil and Joey/Henry maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-19 08:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 8,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12406797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gears112/pseuds/Gears112
Summary: While off trying to collect the soul contracts, Cuphead and his brother come across a former animator in the abandoned studio when two of the debtors are hiding out. Apparently the man knows them and the trio set off to get the soul contracts, unaware that the debtors aren't going to give up that easily.





	1. Chapter 1

Henry gasped as he landed on the ground with a sharp thud; he knew he wasn’t particularly graceful, but this was getting ridiculous with how many times his face was meeting the floor. Part of it was all this damn ink and another part being the fact he was being knocked out on a nearly routine basis, but still. Also compounding this was the fact he could’ve sworn he was seeing shiny brown shoes attached to a young mug-headed toon in blue shorts as he looked up, making him wonder if he was having a strange side effect of head trauma, especially as the toon spoke.

“Hey, Cuphead? Can you check the list? Cause I don’t know for sure this guy has a contract…”

“Huh…?” Henry managed out slowly as he pushed himself to his knees and looked at the two toons in front of him; both were roughly the height of Bendy in the cartoons and both toons were looking at him in surprise. “Who...what…” Henry held his head as he slowly shook it. “I have to be dead….”

“Um Mister?” The blue-shorted toon asked, concerned about the man obviously. “Are you ok?” Henry took a deep breath and sighed.

“I honestly don’t know…” Henry admitted. “I got a letter from my friend Joey...and Bendy is real...Sammy and Susie,…” He groaned and rubbed his face. “A-And Norman...Boris…” Henry wasn’t aware he was crying until the mug-headed toon handed him a tissue. He looked at the toon and smiled weakly. “Thanks…”

“No problem Mister! I’m Mugman and this is my brother Cuphead!” The red-short-wearing toon toon looked up from a scroll and waved.

“Lovely...I’m Henry Ozell…” Cuphead looked back at the scroll before frowning.

“He’s not one of the debtors…”

“Debtors?” Henry asked and Mugman sighed.

“Yeah, we’ve got to find all these guys who ran off on their contracts from the Devil. And we’ve got to find this ‘Joey Drew’ and Bendy guy to get their soul contracts...” Henry groaned loudly.

“Of course Joey would sell his soul to the Devil, it’s a miracle he didn’t do it while I worked with him…”

“You know him?” Mugman asked before his eyes lit up. “Oh! Maybe you can help us avoid a fight! I’m sure he’ll listen to his friend!” Henry stole a glance at Cuphead, who was shaking his head, not impressed with his brother’s optimism.

“Well, I can at least tr-” Henry barely was able to finish before he was tackled in a hug by Mugman.

“Thank ya Mister Henry! Thank ya!” Henry couldn’t help but let out a relieved chuckle; this was certainly a surprise, but there was a part of him that was pleased with seeing these two.

.

* * *

 

.

Bendy watched from behind the corner, frowning at the hugs and attention Henry was getting from the debt collectors. Henry was his damnit, and nobody was going to take him again; not Joey, and definitely not these two dishware heads! Bendy fumed as he saw Henry smiled and chuckle as he was helped up by the two toons; Henry was supposed to do that to him and him alone! (Boris was the only exception of course.) The ink demon wiped away stray melting ink from his face as he slipped away from the scene; he was going to need a good plan to get Henry and to get rid of those debt collectors!


	2. Chapter 2

..

“Oh wow!! Lookit all those toys!” Cuphead exclaimed as the trio stepped back into the “Heavenly Toys” department. Henry made a shaky sigh, his thoughts going back to Boris’s face as that mockery of Alice snatching him while he was trying to help Henry, planning to rip him apart to make herself ‘perfect’. “Oh! Oh! Mug! Check it out! There’s airplanes here! And boats!”

“Oh really?” Mugman exclaimed as he followed after his brother, the two excitedly grabbing the toys, earning a soft chuckle from Henry. “Oh look at this bear!”

“Careful you two, there might be Searchers nearby…” The two looked at him in confusion and Henry sighed lightly. “There’s some creatures made out of ink that have tried drowning me in the ink, and I don’t want to see either one of you hurt…”

“Oh don’t worry Mr. Henry!” Cuphead said. “Me and Mugs can take care of ourselves with our bullets!” Henry blinked slowly, not seeing where the two would be able to store guns and ammo.

“Oh…?” Cuphead beamed and made gun with his fingers and aimed at a toy that got wedged in the gears. A light blue magic beam shot from his fingertips and blasted the toy. “Oh…”

“Yeah it’s really cool!” Mugman said before looking at Henry. “Um, Mister Henry, how do you take care of yourself down here?”

“Well, I had an axe...but that broke…” Henry said. “And there was a pipe wrench...but that got taken…” Henry’s face fell as he realized that he was up a creek without a paddle. 

“That’s not good…” Cuphead said before he snapped his fingers. “Oh! Maybe-Lemme see, no…hmm…Hey Mugman, how’d that Devil say we’re supposed to contact him?”

“Cuphead, no! We’re not going to bring him into this!” Henry watched in confusion as the two bickered before he saw a figure run by.

“What the?” Henry turned and carefully followed the figure. “Boris?” He couldn’t lie, the idea of Boris somehow escaped the grip of that ‘Alice’ seemed to be too good to true, but he wanted it to be true. That idea, however, was shot down when the figure turned and Henry was face to face with a large inky humanoid figure. Henry gulped slowly, his blood running cold, especially as he heard the thing spoke.

“Henry….”

.

* * *

 

.

_ Bendy grumbled, his tail swishing as he sat at the former animator’s desk, stubbornly refusing to leave the spot, except when Wally needed to clean. Then he’d sit on the janitor’s shoulder and watch like a hawk to make sure he did the job right. It only helped slightly to ease the pain of not seeing Henry again. And it did help from him not snapping at Joey when the man came to get him. _

_ “Bendy. You need to head to the Music Department and record.” _

_ “No. I want Henry.” Bendy ignored the frown Joey gave him. _

_ “He abandoned us. We don’t need him.” Bendy huffed and crossed his arms and Joey sighed. “Bendy, I know it hurts, but we need to move on, show him we’re...better.” Bendy shot a look at him. _

_ “You still haven’t told me why he left.” Joey faltered slightly before sighing. _

_ “I will, just when things have fully blown over.” Joey turned to leave before looking back at the demon. “Music Department to record lines. Then you and Boris can have Bacon Soup.” Joey left and Bendy fumed; he wanted answers, but more important, he wanted his creator back! And he wasn’t going to just ‘move on’ like what Joey wanted him to! _

.

* * *

 

.

Henry was speechless, frozen in place as the Bendy-looking creature beamed happily.

“You came after me...even after all of it, you came back…” Henry’s mind screamed at his legs to start moving, but his legs were refusing to listen. “I knew Joey was a liar, he never wanted to tell me why he fired ya…but I don’t care ‘bout that...I don’t care that you left...I want you to sta-AHH!” Bendy stumbled back, clutching his face as blue and red bullets struck the demon.

“Leave him alone!” Mugman’s voice snapped Henry out of the frozen shock as the man stumbled back as the two fired at the demon, who hissed in anger before quickly running off, slipping into the darkness.

“Henry, are you ok?” Cuphead asked as he touched the man’s arm, who was trembling. Henry shook his head, everything threatening to crumble on him again as he mumble.

“Joey...what the hell did you do?”


	3. Chapter 3

..

Joey Drew sighed as he sat in the office, mulling in his thoughts; Henry had returned and was making his way to find him, but had also run into the debt collectors and Bendy. Joey frowned at the thought of the dancing demon; as much as he cared for his creation, Bendy’s ability to refuse to move on was a moderate annoyance. Henry was not here for the darling dancing demon, Henry was here for _him_ and him alone. Joey let out a strained sigh before standing from his chair, best get his office prepared for his friend’s return.

.

* * *

 

.

_“Henry, whadda think about those rumors?”_

_“What rumors?” Henry asked, not even looking up from his sketches and the janitor sighed in annoyance._

_“There’s rumors about you and Joey.” Henry didn’t seem to have a reaction to that. “People are thinking that Joey likes you.”_

_“We’ve been friends since childhood.” Wally groaned._

_“Not like that, Henry, they’re thinking he’s a you-know-what,” Henry looked up from his drawing and looked at Wally before shaking his head._

_“I highly doubt it.” He said. “Besides, isn’t he seeing one of those voice actresses?” Wally nodded slowly._

_“Oh yeah…Guess ya got a point there...Ah well, I’m off to find my keys...later Henry,” Henry rolled his eyes at Wally before going back to work, unaware there was an eavesdropper on the situation, clenching his fists._

.

* * *

 

.

“I’m alright, really!” Henry laughed as Mugman tried to apply another Bendy-themed bandaid to the man’s face. “I really am alright Mugman..I promise…” Mugman looked at him, unconvinced. “I was surprised...that’s all…” He rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t honestly expect Bendy to be real….or like that…” He sighed softly. “And considering how everything else is here….I just…” He let out a shaky sigh. “Everything seems so wrong…” Mugman looked at his brother before hugging the animator. Henry slowly returned the embraced hug and after a few moments. “Thank you...I really needed that…” Mugman beamed.

“No problem Mister Henry!” Henry and Mugman stood up and caught up to Cuphead who had opened a door leading to another hallway.

“The checklist says they’re probably down this way!” Cuphead said, pointing down the hallway.

“Let’s get going!” Mugman exclaimed excitedly and Henry nodded, wondering if Mugman’s earlier thoughts about avoiding a fight were even possible.

.

* * *

 

.

Bendy’s tail swished back and forth as he watched from the shadows, his anger fuming as he saw Mugman hugged Henry and the man return the hug.

“He didn’t mean it, he just did it to be nice…” Bendy mumbled to himself. “He only likes it when me or Boris hug him…yeah...he only cares for me and Boris...not that stupid mug...” He furrowed his brows before a lightbulb went off; if he got rid of that mug-headed debt collector, then he could get Henry to see reason! Bendy chirped happily to himself before he noticed where they were going; Joey’s office. Bendy frowned in annoyance but decided that he would keep an eye out for Henry’s sake then deal with the collectors after they dealt with Joey. Joey might’ve been able to weasel his way into keeping his contract, and he may be able to sell snow to a snowman, but Bendy was certain that those two would defeat him and once Joey was out of his horns, it would be a cakewalk to have Henry back at the studio and it would be like nothing bad ever happened. And more importantly, Henry wouldn't leave again.


	4. Chapter 4

..

“Joey?” Henry asked as he opened the door to the man’s office, half expecting to be face to face with another insane ink-covered monster. Instead there was his friend, only slightly older, putting books and such away in his office

“Ah, Henry!” Joey said happily, as he finished placing a book back on the shelf. “You’ve got my letter! Wonderful!” Henry opened his mouth to say something but got an arm around his shoulder and dragged into the office. “I take you’ve seen the Ink Machine, correct?”

“Well, yeah, but Joey-”

“I must admit, it is a bit of a mess still, but progress is being made on it-”

“Joey, what happened to S-”

“But you can’t stop progress, am I right? I mean now that you’re-”

“Joey what did you do!?” Henry snapped, shoving Joey’s arm off of him, surprising the other man as Cuphead and Mugman snuck in. 

“W-What are you talking about?” Joey asked slowly, stunned by his former friend’s uncharacteristic outburst and the anger in Henry’s eyes.

“Bendy’s alive, there’s some mockery of Alice Angel killing clones of Boris-who’s also alive-Norman’s some kind of Projector-headed monstrosity,” The two toons looked at each other before looking back at Henry, who was trembling. “A-And Sammy’s dead…Joey...What the hell did you do?” Joey pursed his lips before sighing.

“Now Henry, I know it appears bad, but now that you’re here-” Joey paused before he sighed, as if Henry was just having a moment of dramatics and he was talking to a child. “Henry, I have it under control.” Joey smiled gently before seeing Cuphead and Mugman and frowning. The two got into a fighting stance, sensing that they weren’t going to avoid a fight. “Especially once I’m done talking to these two-” 

“No.” Everyone stopped and looked at Henry, who had been silently fuming. “You aren’t going to lay a hand on them. You’re going to give them what you _ sold _ and fix this mess you caused.” Joey frowned.

“Henry, you’re joking; you’re not going to let them take your best pal are ya?” Joey offered a cheeky grin, but his smile faltered as he saw that Henry wasn’t joking. “Henry…” He said sternly.

“My best pal wouldn’t lied to me about wanting to share the workload.” Henry stated. “My best pal wouldn’t try and keep me locked up here in the studio at all hours and judge every person I interacted with...and my best pal sure as hell wouldn’t fire me because he was scared that I would reject his feelings and him for someone else!” Joey’s eyes widened in shock as Henry laughed bitterly.  “You didn’t think I’d find out why you really fired me one way or another? You’re not as hard to read as one would think Drew and you sure as hell don’t pay people enough to keep their mouths shut.” Henry crossed his arms. “Now let them take the contract and we’ll be gone.” Joey’s face was one of stunned shock, as if he couldn’t that Henry was the one giving out orders before it twisted into anger and something far more dangerous as the ink pooling around the office started to move towards Joey and rise up.

“Oh like hell you will be gone again Henry. You left me once and I will _ NOT _ have you abandon me again!”

.

* * *

 

_ This match will get red hot! _

* * *

 

.

_ “Bendy?” Boris asked sheepishly, seeing the demon at Henry’s old desk, curled up in the chair. The demon lifted his head lazily and Boris lifted the blanket Wally had snuck him. “Mr. Wally thought you might get chilly up here…” Bendy smiled softly as Boris sat next to the chair after placing the blanket onto the demon. _

_ “Thanks bud…” The two were quiet for a moment before Boris spoke up. _

_ “So, when Henry gets back, whadda think he’s gonna want to do first?” Making plans about what they would do when they got to see Henry again always seemed to cheer Bendy up, though Boris always wondered why he couldn’t quite remember the first time meeting Henry; if he tried, he only got the faintest image of seeing a man leaving the studio. He would’ve asked Joey, but there was definitely something off about the man that worried Boris, so he avoided the man as best he could. _

_ “We’re getting outta the studio.” Bendy muttered, starting to fall asleep. “And we’re gonna see an actual theater...and a real beach….and maybe get some ice cream….” Within moments, Bendy had fallen fast asleep. Boris chuckled slightly before he heard footsteps. His ears and tail fell as he heard Joey’s voice. _

_ “Boris, I need you to come with me for a moment, I need your help to fix the machine again.” _


	5. Chapter 5

....

It all happened so fast; one moment Joey was yelling and the ink rising up at his command, the next moment an inky tendril wrapped itself around Henry and yanked him out of the room, a demonic-like voice hissing from behind him. When Henry was able to catch his bearings, he noted two things; one, he wasn’t dead or knocked out again though still on the floor, and two, there was a rather large demonic-looking Bendy perched on his chest, like a cat that had decided for the both of them he wasn’t getting back up.

“Um…?” Henry started and the Bendy huffed proudly.

“I saved you from that no-good-Joey.” Bendy purred. “And now it’s all going to be ok.”

“Oh…?” Henry asked slowly, confusion being an understatement.

“Yep, cause now that you’re back, I’m not gonna let anything take you away from me again.”

“Oh.” Bendy nodded firmly, reminding Henry of a child. “Well, I think it might be alright for Mrs. Walters if I had a guest…” Bendy perked up almost immediately and looked at Henry, his reaction a bit hard for the man to read. “She’s my landlord…” Bendy seemed to relax just slightly before curling himself back up on top of Henry again and within moments a soft purr emitted from the demon, leaving Henry confused and alone with his thoughts, and the odd searcher that went by.

.

* * *

 

.

“Cups, what do we do!?” Mugman managed as they dodged ink spikes, getting a few shots to hit the furious owner of the studio. 

“We’ve almost got this guy-” Cuphead started to say before there was a resounding crash sound and the all-too-familiar clicking of fancy shoes against floorboard. “Oh you’ve got to be…”

“Kidding me…”

“Well, hi-de-die-de-do,” Joey growled as King Dice sauntered into the office. “Looks like you two fools are in a bit of a pickle.”

“Why are you here?” Cuphead exclaimed and the dice headed casino owner shrugged.

“Boredom.”

“More like your precious little devil kicked you out.” Joey hissed, earning a very annoyed look from King Dice before the man commanded an ink spike to impale the toon. King Dice merely pulled out a stack of cards and tossed them in Joey’s general direction, destroying the spike and pinning the man again the wall, stunning the two Cupbros.

“You coulda done that the whole time!?” Cuphead snapped, his shock and anger outweighing his sense of self preservation. “Then why the H-E-double hockey sticks did you need me and Mugs for?!”

“If I’m to be honest?” King Dice said before shrugging. “I didn’t know I could do that honestly.” Cuphead’s face was priceless as Mugman looked up at the king.

“Well, thank you Mr. King Dice.” The blue-shorted toon said. “If it’s alright with you, can me and my brother go find Mr. Henry while you take his soul contract?” King Dice was about to ask but apparently Mugman took the lack of an immediate ‘no’ as a yes and quickly scrambled out of the office to find Henry. “Thank you!” King Dice sighed in annoyance before turning to Cuphead who was shuffling through Joey’s desk as the man remained pinned against the wall, struggling against the cards before stopping and sighing.

“You’re not going to find it in there.” Joey muttered as Cuphead looked through the desk. “You don’t think I’d just have it laying out for you to easily grab it?”

“Oh can it old man.” Cuphead snapped at the animator. “We beat you, and we get the contract, now shut up and let me keep looking.” King Dice couldn’t help but snicker as Joey rolled his eyes before his face darkened and he smirked.

“What are you so cheery about?” King Dice snarled, his patience wearing thin as Cuphead still couldn’t find the contract. Joey merely kept up his smile as in the doorway to his office, large groups of searchers were crowding.

“Oh, it’s just my  _ employees _ wanting to have a word with you two.”

.

* * *

 

.

“Mr. Henry!” Mugman called out nervously, the place seeming a lot bigger now that he was by himself. “It’s me, Mugman! Are you alright?” Mugman frowned as he got no response, but forged on until he found himself at a long hallway. “Um...hmm…” There was the sudden sound of a crash and Mugman tensed, readying his fingers against a surprise enemy before a soup can rolled towards him. “Huh?” Mugman picked it up and read the label. “Bacon Soup? Eat with a fork?” Mugman blinked in confusion before footsteps snapped his attention to the person in front of him now; very tall compared to the mug-headed toon, a toon wolf in bright white overalls and confusedly looking at the smaller toon. “U-Um hello?” The wolf tilted his head to one side in confusion before finally speaking.

“You’re not Bendy….who are you then little buddy?”


	6. Chapter 6

..

“Oh! Mr. Henry!” Henry looked up the best he could and saw Mugman running towards him along with-

“Boris?!” Henry exclaimed. “How did you escape that Alice woman!?” The wolf in question shrugged.

“Some man with a dice for a head appeared while I was tied up and said I needed to be gone for him to get to the sucker.” He explained. “I can only assume he meant the lady, but I’m not complaining, either way.” Mugman sighed before chuckling nervously.

“Man, King Dice has been busy down here, I guess…” He muttered before seeing Bendy on Henry’s chest. “Um, Mr. Henry, who’s that on you?”

“Apparently Bendy…” Henry sighed, before shaking his head. “I don’t even understand...how are you and Bendy real?” He looked up at Boris, for that question, earning a confused look from the wolf.

“Don’t you remember? Mr. Drew said that you and him created us…” Boris asked slowly, though part of him was going back to the memory of when he tried to cheer Bendy up before things went really sour.

“Yeah, I designed you guys, but you were just on paper…” Henry trailed off before groaning and muttering a ‘Damnit Joey’ before looking at Mugman. “Do you know what Joey sold his soul for?” The mug quickly shook his head.

“Nope! I mean if we have his contract we’d know, but I sure don’t know…” Henry nodded glumly.

“Well, maybe it was the Ink Machine?” Boris offered quickly, though his concern grew by Henry’s confused look.

“That wasn’t there when Joey fired me.”

“Cause he’s a jerk.” Bendy mumbled from on top of Henry. “Sayin’ my buddy never worked hard enough and always late.” Mugman rubbed the back of his head nervously as Henry sighed.

“Bendy.” The demon perked its head up as Henry spoke. “Joey didn’t fire me because of deadlines or anything work related.”

“What?!”

“He fired me because he overreacted when he thought I had a female friend.” There was a long pause from the toons before Bendy lost it, nearly toppling over, laughing loudly, before he noticed that no one else was laughing.

“Wait...you’re not joking?” Henry shook his head. “B-B-But that’s a stupid reason to fire you-”

“Well, when you realize the person you wanted to keep like a bird in a cage, won’t reciprocate your feelings, I’d assume you’d get desperate.”

“Even desperate to sell your soul…” Mugman muttered before quickly shaking his head. “We should head back to that office and check on my brother, see if he got the soul contract!” Bendy was quiet, allowing Boris to help Henry up off the ground, though the demon still held onto Henry’s shirt, reminding Henry of some of the toddlers he babysat. Henry adjusted Bendy in his arms before looking between Mugman and Boris. 

“Alright let’s-” There was a rumble that shook the floor everyone was standing in. “What the…” Henry trailed off as he heard his former friend’s voice laughing manically ring throughout the halls.

“Gentleman, Dreams Come True, and I shall prove it to you!” Mugman gasped.

“Mr. Henry! My brother is still in the office!” Henry merely nodded, noting that Bendy’s grip had tightened on his shirt.

“Let’s not waste any time then.” Henry said before his hand absently grazed against the letter Joey sent him. Strangely it felt warmer and suddenly an idea popped into the former animator’s head. “Wait...I think I have an idea…to throw Joey off…” the toons looked at him in varying degrees of concern and excitement.

.

* * *

 

.

Cuphead gasped for air as he managed to throw off another one of those inky humanoid figures; searchers, Henry had called them, before aiming another shot at Joey. It barely phased him as Joey casually avoiding the cards send his way and sending more searchers after them.

“What do we do…” Cuphead muttered before Henry’s voice came from outside the room.

“Yes, I do think that Mrs. Walters would love seeing all of you; she is a good woman, if not a little shortsighted…” The fighting seemed to pause as Joey stared at the door. “And she does try to play the whole matchmaker thing…”

“Matchmaker?” Cuphead paled slightly as he heard his brother’s voice. “What’s that Mr. Henry?”

“Oh, just someone who tries and match you with someone they think you’ll love.”

“And obviously it hasn’t worked.” Bendy pointed out in a smug tone but judging from the laugh Henry gave, and Joey’s low distracted growl, that wasn’t the case.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that Bendy, Mr. Walters did introduce me to a rather nice woman who works at the nearby restaurant, Maria, I believe her name is.” Henry chuckled in embarrassment. “She’s a wonderful woman…and Bendy, I know you’ll like her; she dances beautifully…”

“Oh really?”

“Yep, completely graceful and I’m sure she’ll love having a partner to dance with that’s as talented as you.”

“You certainly sound smitten with her Mr. Henry.” 

“ _ No…. _ ” Joey growled, the ink seeming to move towards him before the ink rushed towards the door, planning to open it as Henry chuckled.

“Yeah… I suppose I am…”

“Well if she passes my test,” Bendy said sternly. “Then Boris gets to be the ringbearer and I get to be the flower girl. You can be the other ring guy, Mug-headed guy.”

“ _ NO! _ ” Joey hissed and giant spikes of ink destroyed the door.

“Mugman!” Cuphead exclaimed in horror, assuming the worst, before there was a pained gasp from Joey as the ink melted back into the floorboards as the man collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. King Dice raised an eyebrow before looking at Cuphead.

“You still hadn’t found the contract…” He started before turning to where the door had been, seeing Henry and the other toons, Henry still holding up his letter from Joey, though it had a large spike hole in it. “He gave the contract to you…”

“He used it as a letter!” Mugman explained. “I mean he painted over his contract and then sent the letter to Mr. Henry! Actually kinda clever if ya think about I think…”

“And he destroyed his own contract…” King Dice muttered, admittedly still exhausted from the fight.

“Is that bad?” Cuphead asked as he ran back to his brother.

“I’m...not sure exactly…” 


	7. Chapter 7

..

Henry took a shaky breath as he saw his former friend panting heavily, the ink pooling at his hands and feet.

“Joey…?” He started to ask, obviously concerned despite what just happened. Suddenly Joey started to laugh hysterically, surprising everyone as the ink began to rise up his body. Before anyone could react, Joey lunged for Henry, tackling the man and both seemingly went through the floorboards, leaving only the contract and a very terrified Bendy behind.

“How the heck?!” Cuphead exclaimed before looking up at his boss, who had grabbed the contract, which was fading and crumbling rapidly. “What’s going on King Dice!?”

“His soul’s deteriorating…” 

“What does that mean Mr. King Dice?”

“It means he’s probably not going to last much longer…But where the heck did he take that man?” Bendy was trembling and both Boris and Mugman were at the demon’s side trying to comfort him before Boris looked up at the dice toon.

“I think I know where he might’ve gone.”

.

* * *

 

.

“J-Joey! Please!” For a man seemingly melting, Joey still had a surprising strong grip, as Henry was struggling to not let the man shove him into the large and very loud Ink Machine. Joey didn’t seem to hear him, the manic look on the man’s face was terrifying as Henry winced, his head closer to the gears and other parts in the machine. “Please...Jojo…” Henry whimpered. “Don’t do this…don’t kill me...” Joey smiled wildly as he got uncomfortably close to Henry’s face.

“Kill you? Why would I kill you?” Joey cooed. “Henry, I love you...I want you…I want you...to not...leave…” Joey leaned and forced his lips against Henry’s, Henry’s mind wondering what the hell was going on, before his grip slipped and he fell into the machine, his head knocking into one of the gears, sending everything into darkness.

.

* * *

 

.

_ Beep… Beep… Beep…. _

Henry opened his eyes, wincing as his eyes adjusted to the bright white lights of the hospital.

“Nugh...huh?” He managed out and he noticed Bendy curled up next to his arm, now back to his smaller, more traditional form. “What the...how?”

“Mr. Henry!” Henry turned, wincing slightly at the throbbing in his head, and saw Cuphead and Mugman on the other side. “You’re ok!”

“What happened?” He managed out as Bendy started to wake up.

“Joey tried to put ya in the machine ‘fore he melted.” The demon mumbled as he sat up on the bed. “And you got a nasty cut on your head…”

“But he should be fine in a few days.” King Dice said as he entered with a very annoyed Devil trailing behind. “Mostly thanks to him.”

“Bah, Mugman couldn’t stop giving me that look.” The devil grumbled, Mugman looking at the Devil with a disappointed look. “Gah, that one! Stop it!” Cuphead frowned and Henry shook his head softly before the Devil looked over at him. “And as stupid as it is, thanks for getting the contract from that weasel back...though he broke it….” Henry nodded glumly as Bendy wrapped his arms around Henry.

“It don’t matter now!” Bendy declared firmly. “Cause Henry’s here and ok, and me and Boris are gonna stay with him forever!” Henry chuckled softly.

“Me and my brother will be able to visit, right?” Mugman asked.

“Of course,” Henry said. “I always enjoy guests and stuff like that…” The Devil punched the air.

“Fuck yeah! I love excuses to head to the mortal realm!” Cuphead and Bendy gasped and covered Mugman and Henry’s ears, though Bendy was extremely gentle with Henry, who chuckled softly, partially wonder what the hell he was in store for.


	8. Chapter 8

..

“Awww come on, pleaaaaaaaseee??” The Devil’s eye twitched as he held Bendy’s soul contract in his claws as he listened to Bendy’s ‘bargaining’. “PleaselemmestaywithHenryPleasepleasepleaaaaaaase~”

“Fine.” The devil grumbled, earning cheers from the toon demon. 

“That’s very kind of you, boss.” Dice mused, earning an annoyed glare from the Devil as he popped open a beer bottle and slumped against Henry’s couch.

“I sure as hell ain’t listening to that whining for his entire afterlife.” The "Gamist in the Land" merely chuckled and patted his boss's arm knowingly as the two watched Henry get tackled by Bendy, while showing some of his drawings to the others. Luckily through either Mrs. Walters not giving enough of a crap or demonic/toon logic, nothing was brought up regarding Henry’s guests. The demon sighed before looking at his cohort. “Any ideas on why that Drew guy destroyed his own contract?” Dice raised an eyebrow.

“I assumed he didn’t realized it until it was too late when he struck the door,”

“Bah, nonsense, there’s no way he couldn’t have sensed his contract near him, and mortals may be weaker than china glasses, but they’ve got enough preservation to not to stab their own contracts.” Dice wasn’t convinced but he nodded nothingless. 

“He was falling to pieces and the contract did disintegrate and there was a big hole in it….” The Devil looked at Dice with a look of disbelief.

“You’ve worked for me how long?!” He exclaimed, earning everyone’s attention. “Dice, contracts don’t fucking work like that!!” Henry paled slightly as he looked at the two.

“W-What?”

.

* * *

 

.

“As much as that  _ annoyed _ me to watch…” Joey mused as he stepped out of the shadows as the inky puddle near the Ink Machine reluctantly reformed into a more humanoid shape. “I must give you credit for a rather convincing performance, Lawrence.” The inky figure grunted in annoyance and rubbed at his mouth, more details appearing, though still obscured mostly by the ink.

“At least his breath didn’t smell as awful as I assumed it would be…” Sammy looked at Joey, who merely smiled.

“And it wasn’t that bad, now was it?” Joey cooed. “Your form is more stable, and you can still serve your Lord.” Sammy wasn’t impressed but huffed, as if like a child being told what to do.

“Now what? Wait till they realize they must come home to the pasture again?” Joey just smiled.

“Do not worry, Lawrence, I have a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short interlude before we get to the action, answering a question or two, some floof with King Dice & Devil, and also minor bone to the Sammy/Henry shippers.


	9. Chapter 9

..

Henry groggily woke up to the smell of something burning candles, before realizing he was tied up. He gasped but found his mouth tied with a gag.

“Mpfh?!” He tried to gauge where he was but the light he was getting from the candles didn’t help any. A million thoughts raced through his head as he tried to figure out what was going on.

“Easy there Henry,” Henry felt his blood run cold as he heard Joey’s voice, feeling the man touch his shoulder. “This is not exactly what I had in mind,” There was a soft chuckle. “But I cannot risk Bendy attempting to find you….it would be awfully messy.” Henry was trying to keep his breathing even as his thoughts raced; what the hell was Joey thinking?! How the heck did Joey even survive?! And also, why the heck did his friend freaking kiss him? Henry shuddered as he felt Joey lazily brush his fingers through his hair. “But do not worry, it’ll be all fine soon enough…” Joey sighed softly. “I truly missed you Henry….it pained me to be so cruel, but I thought that would help ease the pain…” Joey chuckled softly. “But that’s in the past and I know you can forgive me for that,” Henry rolled his eyes and mentally made a comment about Joey’s insanity as he felt Joey twirl some of hair. “But I have a way to fix it…” Henry tried to turn to look Joey in the face but found however he was tied up, made it nearly impossible. Joey merely chuckled and patted Henry on the shoulder. “I must get to finish up the ritual. Stay put, alright?” Joey chuckled as his ‘joke’ and left Henry alone to the emptiness and darkness.

.

* * *

 

.

“Mr. Bendy?” Mugman asked slowly as he poked his head into Henry’s room, seeing the demon curled up in Henry’s bed, whimpering softly. “Oh Mr. Bendy, I’m so sorry, but we’re going to get him back!” The demon looked at him and Mugman’s heart broke at the sight of Bendy’s face. “I’m sure we’ll get him back and then I’m certain Mr. Devil and Mr. King Dice will get back at that Mr. Joey-fella.”

“But what if it’s too late?” Bendy whimpered. “What if Joey kills Henry to make sure he never leaves him? Man, I’m even more awful than I thought...” Mugman frowned and took the demon’s hands.

“Mr. Bendy,” Mugman said sternly. “I know it’s really difficult to see it right now, but it’s never too late to prove you’re not awful.” Bendy looked at Mugman, who offered a gentle smile. “And I don’t think you are awful, personally, I mean sure, you were kinda scary in that studio, but you were worried about your friends and it might be rude of me to assume, but I don’t think you had a lot of experience with interacting with people before we came in.” Bendy nodded slowly in agreement. “And once we get Mr. Henry back, I’m sure my brother will be happy to help me teach you about interacting with people and stuff!” Bendy smiled hopefully. 

“And Boris too?” Mugman nodded firmly and Bendy stood up, feeling a feeling that he hadn’t felt in years since he was brought to this world. “Well, let’s not waste anymore time! We’ve got to get Henry back!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens, doesn't it? ;)
> 
> Though admittedly I'm at a toss-up about what Joey's going to do with Henry to make sure his 'buddy' never abandons him again, so I'm open up for suggestions there :D (Personally I've got 'Henry gets tooned' or 'Henry gets turned to a lady', but i'm open to other ideas)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the suggestions and thoughts for what'll happen to Henry, and this chapter, we get to see at least a part of what Drew plans to do, as well as a possible plan that the "Gamist in the Land" has to fix all of it.
> 
> Hopefully there isn't repercussions for forcibly nulling/voiding out a contract ;)

The first thing Henry noticed when he could finally see was that everything was Joey looking back him with a smile, though to Henry, Joey appeared to be 50 ft tall.

“It worked…” He mused softly. “It actually worked…”

“What do you mean it worked!?” Henry snapped. “You’re huge!”  Henry watched as Joey watched him and covered his mouth with a free hand and chuckled. “What are you laughing about Joey?!” Henry huffed in annoyance before he noticed  that Joey wasn’t the only thing that was huge. “What the…” Henry paled as he saw the man’s office “What did you do Joey?”

“I made sure you’d never have to leave me again….” Henry gulped slowly as Joey grabbed a small hand mirror and showed Henry his reflection.

“N-No….”

.

.

“I still don’t see why you couldn’t have turned him into a woman.” Sammy pointed out as he looked at the small toon of his former coworker on the page that was resting in the book Joey always had with him. “Unless of course, gender roles and expectations and who can have a passport have changed that drastically over the years.” Joey rolled his eyes.

“He still would’ve tried to escape….even as a normal toon he would’ve tried to escape. So this was my best choice.” 

“Uh huh.” Sammy didn’t sound convinced, but he didn’t care. “So you at least gonna draw him a bed or a bottle of scotch?” Joey looked at Sammy who shrugged. “Hey, somebody down here should be at least drunk off their ass to put up with this.” Joey rolled his eyes, making sure not to show a reaction to the car horn sound that echoed quietly from Sammy’s voice when he had said the curse word.

“Lawrence, it is only temporary,” Joey promised, taking his inky coworker away from the book. “Once I’ve finished preparing the final steps,” His voice lowered into a whisper. “I will return him to normal.” Sammy raised an eyebrow but didn’t question his former boss.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, I still think something strong’s in order to put up with this.” Joey let go of Sammy and opened his mouth. “And before you even suggest it, 30-something year old soup does NOT count as strong liquor.” Sammy grumbled something about forks before he headed to the Music Department. Joey merely chuckling before turning and heading back to the book and saw that Henry had fallen asleep, little zzz’s flickering above him. Joey beamed at how adorable he looked before quickly grabbing a pen to get his friend a blanket. After all, his friend deserved to be comfortable, right?

.

* * *

 

.

“So what’s the plan Mr. King Dice?” Bendy asked as he, Mugman, Boris, and Cuphead followed the purple suited toon down the walkways of the studio. “I mean Joey’s gotta have some plan in case he expects us to come back!” 

“I’m collecting his contract.” King Dice said simply, earning confusion from the Cupbros.

“How?” King Dice turned to the two and smiled wickedly before turning to where the Ink Machine resided.

“I’m nullifying the terms and conditions of the contract with Mr. Drew, boys. You don’t worry about a thing; you three find that man’s office, Henry’s bound to be locked up there.” The four nodded and quickly made their way down the levels of the studio, before they ran face to face with Sammy Lawrence.

“Aw crap…” Cuphead said.

“Move Sammy!” Bendy ordered. “We gotta find Henry!” The Music Director scoffed.

“Good luck trying to pry Joey’s hands off of where he’s keeping him.”

“Mr. Lawrence,” Boris asked softly. “Do you know where Henry is? Please can you show us? We really need to save Mr. Henry…” Sammy was about to tell Boris no but the wolf pulled ‘that’ look, leaving the Music Director to sigh in defeat.

“Fine. Follow me.”


	11. Chapter 11

...

“Joey!” Joey casually turned as he heard Bendy yell his name. He closed the book, muffling the colorful choices of words Henry was using to describe him and carefully set the book in the shelf. “Gimme back Henry!” Joey raised an eyebrow.

“Why assume that I kidnapped Henry?” Joey cooed. “Why not assume that-” He trailed off as he heard muffled screaming the word ‘Fuck’ from his shelf, earning a snort from Sammy. 

“I told you that there needed to be liquor involved.” Joey frowned.

“And why did you help them?” Joey hissed and Sammy gestured to Boris absently. 

“He did the look.”

“Alright, Buster!” Cuphead snapped, pointing his finger gun at Joey. “Let Henry go!” Joey didn’t look impressed.

“And if I don’t?” He mocked. “Last I recall-” There was a sudden thud, surprising everyone, as Joey’s black book tipped over and fell from the shelf, Bendy quickly rushing and grabbing the book. “Bendy! Drop that!” The demon ignored him and looked at the page it opened on, gasping.

“Henry!” Bendy exclaimed, seeing the man-turned-toon shaking his head, little spirals above him signaling that he was dizzy.

“Bendy, drop that book now!” Joey hissed and a blue bullet prevented him from moving further. He turned to Mugman, his hand up and aimed at Joey.

“I’m not going to miss next time.” Joey growled as Bendy picked up the paper that had Henry on it.

“Bendy!” Henry exclaimed, shaking his head again. “Gods that was stupid what I just did…I’m not even sure what I did...”

“He is not leaving.” Joey stated sternly.

“Yes! He! Is!” Bendy snapped. “We’re gonna leave right now! And with that Mr. Dice null-luu-ing your contract, we’re never going to have to deal with you again!” Bendy couldn’t help but smirk at the eye-widening from Joey before his joy became confusion.

“ _ WHAT!? _ ” Joey hissed. “Bendy are you insane!? Do you not understand that means?!” Bendy stepped back in confusion, Joey’s eyes beginning to show panic and desperation. “Bendy, that machine brought you to life! It has brought my dreams to life! If he shuts that off...” Joey ran a hand through his hair and Bendy held the paper close, afraid that Joey would try to take it and do something reckless. “But my ritual isn’t complete….I can’t risk it and killing him…but it might not kill him…”

“Bendy! Run!” Boris shouted, lunging for Joey, who had turned towards Bendy, mumbling about risks. The little devil bolted, running as fast as he could. Mugman quickly ran after him as Cuphead shot at Joey, who was desperately trying to go after Bendy.

“NO!! NO! I CANNOT LOSE AGAIN!!!”

.

* * *

 

.

“You’re ok! You’re ok!” Bendy held Henry tightly, the effects of what Joey had tried worn off, though the man was dizzy and still sitting on the floor.

“Uh...yeah..” He managed out. “I think so at least…”

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Mr. Henry…” Mugman said, trying to help Henry stay upright. “Who knows what else Mr. Joey did…”

“I appreciate the concern, but the sooner we get away from here...the sooner…” Henry said shakily as he tried to stand up. Bendy and Mugman helped  the man, who shook as he got to a standing position. “I can’t believe this...I mean, I know Joey was nuts...but this…” He shook his head. “This…” He sighed sadly. “Maybe I’m just a sentimental old man…” 

“There’s nothing wrong, with being sentimental,” Mugman offered. “I mean, you and Joey were good friends…right?” Henry chuckled, though it was bittersweet.

“Friends since we were kids…” Henry said. “He’d cook up every grand scheme and I’d bail him out of trouble...and when he felt the world was closing in on him, I was that sense of reason keeping him going…”

“Well, that’s good, right?” Mugman asked innocently and Henry shrugged.

“In a way, I suppose….” Henry admitted. “Though it concerned me that it was just me for Joey...and if I’m to be honest, it scared the hell out of me that I would make the wrong choice and Joey’d do something that would get him killed…I don’t like having that much control or power of someone…” Mugman nodded slowly as Bendy wiped some ink that was running into his eyes. Henry picked up the paper he was formerly trapped on and looked at it. After a moment he handed it to Mugman. “That’s yours.” Mugma opened his mouth to ask but quickly shut it as he looked at it.

“Holy cow! It’s the contract!” Mugman exclaimed. “This is great! Come on, we better to get back to Mr. King Dice!” Bendy nodded absently, looking more drained by the second. Mugman and Henry exchanged concerned looks before the man picked up the devil like one would a small child and followed after Mugman.


	12. Chapter 12

..

King Dice stepped back as he finished shutting off the machine; he was not pleased with the ink destruction of his purple suit jacket as the machine sputtered and made some inhuman noises before becoming silent.

“Finally.” He grunted. “I never thought I would be grateful to void out a contract as much as this one…”

“Mr. King Dice!” He turned and saw Mugman running towards him. “Something’s wrong with Mr. Bendy!” King Dice raised an eyebrow before seeing the toon in Henry’s arms, looking very weak and small. 

“What in the world?” He started before sighing and rubbing his temples. “Of course…” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That explains everything…”

“Mr. Dice!!” Cuphead yelled as he ran towards them, trying to hold Boris and Sammy up, though ink was pouring and melting off of Sammy, revealing a very confused-if not panicked-young lanky man, no older than the day Henry last saw him.

“What the…?” Henry managed out slowly.

“And he’s really mad!” Cuphead added. “Me and Mr. Boris and this guy barely got outta there-”

“ **GeT BAcK hERe!!!** ” Joey’s voice warbled and everyone looked at King Dice.

“Well, that’s different…”

“Here’s Mr. Joey’s contract!” Mugman offered. “That means we don’t have to void out the contract, right?” King Dice looked at the paper before groaning.

“I already voided it. It’s too late for that...” Sammy looked at Henry, as if to ask the older man what was going on, only to get a panicked shrug. “‘Sides, this’ll turn to dust in a bit…”

“But what’s happening to Mr. Bendy? And Mr. Boris?”

“Well, they were made with this thing.” He gestured to the machine trailing off, not wanting to go into detail. 

“W-What does that mean for u-us?” Bendy started but everything stopped as they saw Joey, who had a manic look in his eyes, especially as he spotted Henry. “J-Joey…”

“ **_HeNRY…_ ** ” Joey hissed before lunging at Henry, knocking the older man over, trying to strangle him. “You  **_WON’T_ ** leave me again….” Henry tried to pry the man’s grip off his neck as Joey continued. “You won’t abandon me again…I-I finally know how I fix this...I-I thought that the machine would fix it…that if I separated from it, I could no longer have to worry about  _ you _ anymore...but it never work properly…” Joey laughed. “If you need a result, one has to do it themselves, right old  _ friend _ …” 

“N-No!” Bendy cried out, trying to save Henry, pushing and shoving Joey away, as Henry blacked out. “Joey stop! STOP!” King Dice frowned.

“Now that is perfectly pathetic.” He said before pulling out a card and throwing at Joey. “And here I thought Stageplay was the drama queen.”

.

* * *

 

.

Henry gasped as he opened his eyes, wincing as he saw bright lights blinding him. Was everything a dream? Was he in fact dead? He got his answer when he heard the door open and a pair of drinkware-headed toons poked their heads over the handrails of the hospital bed.

“Mr. Henry!? Are you ok?!” Mugman exclaimed and Henry blinked slowly.

“I...I don’t...I mean…what-”

“We really thought you were a gonner when that scary guy tried killing you! But man, Bendy sure held him back even though he was melting super fast! And then King Dice did a thing with his playing cards and then Poof-”

“Whoa, whoa…” Henry said slowly. “Slow down...I just woke up…” Henry grunted as he forced himself to a sitting position, noting that Bendy was not in the bed he was in. “Where…” The two’s faces fell and they looked at the ground. “Boys...where’s everyone else?”

“Um...well...Mr. King Dice is talking to the Devil about what to do with that Mr. Joey...and they’re also talking to that Mr. Sammy guy, getting whatever else he remembers…” Henry nodded slowly, a pit in his stomach rising.

“W-What happened to Bendy and Boris…?” There was a long pause of silence before Mugman spoke up.

“I’m really sorry Mr. Henry…”


	13. Chapter 13

...

“Man, Elder Kettle is blushing!” Cuphead giggled as he and his brother watched their caretaker talk to Henry’s landlady on the porch. Henry smiled softly as he watched the two watch their caretaker. “That’s so cool!”

“Yeah…” He said softly as he finished working on lunch. The two toons kept Henry company as much as they could, introducing their caretaker to the human man during one of their in-between-getting-contracts-times. Henry sighed softly; he knew he shouldn’t be that upset about what happened, after all, nothing truly lasted forever, but it still hurt that he barely had any time with Bendy and Boris before they were gone, and considering the time they did have with each other, Henry would’ve prefered a least a little bit more. It also hurt to think about the two for another reason; when they were first drawn, Henry had based them on him and Joey’s friendship as kids; Bendy being the one with the grandiose schemes, but meaning well, Boris being the one to pull the reigns in and get the two out of trouble. Henry felt a tug at his side and turned to see Mugman offering a handkerchief for him. “Thanks…” He took it and wiped his eyes.

“And he told you this?” They perked up as they heard the voice of the woman that Henry had mentioned before (and his landlady thought was a perfect match for him) chuckling as multiple footsteps came closer to the door.

“You betcha miss!” Henry’s eyes widened as he looked at the other two toons, who were looking at him as if to say ‘You heard that too?!’ “And he’s told me you’s a pretty good dancer!” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m that good…I mean I do help at the dance studios with the younger children…”

“Golly, that sounds like really nice.”

“N-No...way…” Henry managed out, trying to keep his composure as there was a knock at the door. Cuphead quickly opened it and gasped.

“Bendy! Boris!? You got un-melty!? How’d that happen?!” Bendy stole a look at Boris before the two gave them mischievous grins.

“You could say that the Devil wanted to really show Joey who’s the boss~” Bendy beamed before seeing Henry, who was trying not to devolve into a sobbing mess. “Now I’m believe I’m owed a ‘thanks for rescuing me’ hug!” He ran to Henry, who dropped to his knees and held Bendy tightly, almost afraid that if he let go of the dancing demon, he’d melt away.

“My…” Maria said, feeling a bit out of the loop. “You fellas must’ve had a week or two…”

“You could say something like that, lady.” Cuphead said slowly. 

.

* * *

 

.

“Ahhh,” The Devil purred happily as he kicked his feet up, pleased with his handiwork. “Another fantastic day thanks to me!”

“Well, granted, the new act brought crowds in.” King Dice teased. “And with both Boris and Bendy helping Mr. Lawrence, I’m sure we’ll be sitting pretty till the two boys get the rest of the contracts.” The Devil merely grunted. “But the idea to use Joey’s soul to recreate the two was a genius plan.”

“Hey, you’re the one that caught the old coot in the first place, I was just making due with what my best lackey grabbed.” King Dice rolled his eyes at the mention of lackey as the Devil beamed. “And besides, despite the whining, the demon’s got some potential.” King Dice nodded, though he had a feeling it was less about potential and more along the lines of the dancing demon worming his way onto his Boss’s soft side. Not that he’d ask his boss that ever.

“I’ll bet sir.”


End file.
